THE BEE-KEEPERS* REVIEW. 



19 



are printed the names of the States. 

 Each State is also divided off witli 

 similar cards having- the letters of the 

 alphabet upon the upward, projecting- 

 tabs. Suppose I wish to find the name 

 of John Johnson, Midland, Mich., I 

 can see the word "Michig-an, " instant- 

 ly. I know just about where to look 

 for it, as the States are arrang-ed 

 alphabetically in the boxes. Having 

 found Michig-an, I can almost instant- 

 ly put my finger on the tab marked 

 "J," and all of the "J's" in Michigan 

 are all together just behind this card. 

 They can be lifted out and shuffled 

 over, and the card of Mr. John John- 

 son found very quickly. These cards 

 are printed with the years, for 25 years 

 ahead, spaces being- left to write in 

 the months. Mr. Johnson's subscrip- 

 tion is advanced by simply writing the 

 appropriate month before the appro- 

 priate year, and his card put into the 

 box or tray in which are kept the 

 names for that certain year, and the 

 names for each ye'dr are kept by them- 

 selves. Little tabs on the tops of the 

 cards indicate in which month the sub- 

 scriptions expire. If I wish to write 

 to the subscribers whose subscriptions 

 expire with a certain month in a cer- 

 tain year, it is no trouble to find them. 

 There are several other advantages 

 about this card system that might be 

 mentioned. For instance, when a man 

 orders his paper stopped, we simply 

 remove the card, and it is ofi^ out of the 

 way. In a book, the name remains, 

 and eventually, the book is lumbered 

 up with a lot of dead names that must 

 be looked over every time the list is ex- 

 amined. At the right of the desk is 

 another set of cards in which, or b}' 

 which, is kept the list of names to 

 which samples are sent. Tabs on the 

 upper edges of the cards show how 

 long the card has been in the list, and 

 what kind of advertising matter has 

 been sent. When a subscription comes 

 in, this list is always examined to see 

 if this man is on the sample-list. If 



his name is found, the Card is taken 

 out, stamped with the date of his sub- 

 scription, and filed away. It is some- 

 times interesting, yes, and important, 

 to know how long a man will some- 

 times receive advertising matter before 

 he finally subscribes. We learn, 

 eventually, how long it pays to keep a 

 man's name in the list. I also have 

 ways of determining, inmost instances, 

 what kind of advertising- has induced 

 a man to subscribe. A record of this 

 is kept, and, gradually, I am learning 

 that some forms of advertising- are al- 

 most valueless, while others are so 

 good that it is simply impossible to 

 dispense with them. But I have said 

 about enoug-h on this point, suffice it 

 to say, that on about six feet square 

 of floor space is concentrated and 

 systemized all of my office work. I 

 can sit in my chair and place my 

 finger almost instantly upon anything- 

 that I wish to find. 



System has been defined as "always 

 doing- the same thing in the same way, ' ' 

 and one of the great gains in system- 

 izing, in "alwa3's doing the same 

 thing- in the same way," is that it al- 

 lows of the bringing- in of hired help. 

 When a man "always does the same 

 thing in the same way," he can teach 

 some one else how to do it, but if it 

 is done diff^erently at different times, 

 and some sort of judg-ment must be ex- 

 ercised each time, the hired help may 

 not always use the best of judgment. 

 Mr. Townsend well-says, in this issue 

 of the Review, that in the management 

 of out-apiaries, there must be some 

 system that hired help can understand 

 and carry out throughout the entire 

 season. Since I have my business so 

 thoroughly systemized, I can g-o away 

 and leave it in charge of my wife, or 

 one of my daug-hters, and be g-one from 

 home two or three weeks if necessary. 

 Of course, there are some kinds of 

 business in which it is almost impos- 

 sible for the owner to leave it, but, in 

 many instances, I think there is some- 



